Document 16-2: Currier & Ives, Across the Continent (1868)

Railroad Transforms the Nation

CURRIER & IVES, Across the Continent (1868)

For better or worse, the railroad altered the geography of America and ushered in economic, social, and political changes that touched the lives of nearly all Americans. Like the canal era before it, the period of rapid railroad development promised market revolutions as goods and resources crossed the continent and local economies integrated with national and global trade networks. Once-isolated communities found themselves connected to consumer and communication webs hardly imagined in the horse and wagon days. The Currier & Ives print “Across the Continent, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way” captures the revolution at its beginning, with the anticipation and foreboding it inspired.

image
Source: Across the Continent, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868 (litho), Currier, N. (1813–1888), and Ives, J. M. (1824–1895) / Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library.

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Question

    pCz4Wd3Z3h6BrTeg95ZXVS+M92lQvz9yDf9yewweI7YX1jBR7tMeeKADIZz2AXT8TzSUxjOSRmWuLWIi+/3DcUPw3Fd4lh6rvRUR9i0Vl1qbPvXtoW/eKd2ltSwRkEEJJQx0TFFe5zh4PKbqFYa2Db6D/yY4lk+S/OsZjnTRBQROp6cj9z4jGVXHZn3jBNFmcYejIr8DC2oNorMtqu78YAZPvU6ZuXwpnkQ3uXQrhimERZw9Saw56wTAZVqVV6hVNW2GobWqhZ2dEl8iZlRTkiv07m+89nuYTOJkVEQTzgSRDgklNQC11QZ+/VXMyciWOv1C459cLDtVlU+4J9EE12yvllAsNWOO
  2. Question

    3zPcrn72MQr4Ukxfptxa7IG/2wc5Kh6ssjZZqo71uFwAvJ7Mo3Ax3h5TM7iiSZJ+x7VNhqRIebD3WAX8UV0GglbRveS6vBMm9jNkeYtci9DEUP+MPTMyLsgKCDP14IrsRlnLWUhYGsafP4ADnl4eEI1eJ2j/NJhY/6+B+m39dpxopHrj3fKkspcqE2E+BO0mZ8XRMm8P0rRZwrWWmUreZlQeoZvOueAeUBqlZ/5fH8EJllZM